


an elegant accessory for a more civilized daemon

by Vorpal_Sword



Series: the soft animal of your body [3]
Category: His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman, Leverage
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Alternate Universe - His Dark Materials Fusion, Daemon Feels, Eliot Spencer's Cooking, Family Dinners, Fluff, POV Alec Hardison, Pre-OT3, Star Wars References, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-20 00:37:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20666435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vorpal_Sword/pseuds/Vorpal_Sword
Summary: Hardison's daemon has a new accessory. The crew has some questions.Mostly fluff.





	an elegant accessory for a more civilized daemon

**i. Hardison**

He's out of orange soda again. Alec could've sworn the bottle was full just a couple of minutes ago, but it's definitely empty now. He turns to go fetch more when something unusual catches his eye. On the chair next to him, his daemon, Leia, is typing on the little keyboard they built together to perfectly fit the raccoon's paws. That's _normal, _or at least what passes for normal for them— most daemons don't use computers, but then, most daemons aren't better hackers than most of the NSA. Not that he's smug or anything.

Anyway.

What isn’t normal is the flash of something sparkling behind her ear. Is Leia wearing a _ hair clip? _

“Are you wearing a hair clip?” he asks. The raccoon smirks up at him and tilts her head so he can get a better look.

“Is that _ the Rebel Alliance emblem_?!” Alec blurts. He doesn't need Leia's grin to confirm that it is— Alec's been able to recognize that symbol at a glance since he was eight, back in the first safe home he’d ever had, watching Carrie Fisher kick ass next to the woman he would eventually come to call Nana. “Where did you get a Rebel Alliance hair clip?” He considers for a moment. This is, after all, the other half of himself. “And how did I not notice you getting it?”

Leia laughs. “Because you’re an unobservant human with lousy personal awareness?” she suggests. Alec thinks he hears Eliot chuckling in the kitchen. He gapes at his daemon. She flicks her tail at his arm, then relents. “You were coding,” she explains. “Coulda dyed my fur blue and you wouldn’t’ve noticed.” Now Alec is _ sure _he hears Eliot laughing.

He shoves aside the empty soda bottle and the keyboard. Leia obligingly jumps to the table in front of him so he can get a better look. Yep, that’s very definitely the Starbird of the Rebel Alliance, sparkling in a deep red that looks surprisingly elegant against the brown of his daemon's fur. 

**ii. Nate**

Nate strolls through the room, Brigid just by his side as always. They both stop for a second and squint over at the new accessory. For a moment, Nate seems nonplussed. Then something clears in his expression and he says, “Parker give that to you?” 

Leia _ preens_, fluffing her tail proudly. “She sure did.” Nate nods, satisfied, but Alec gapes even more. 

“Parker?” he asks. “CGI-Yoda loving Parker? Gave you a _ Rebel Alliance hair clip_?” 

Nate and Leia look at him like he’s missing something very, very obvious. Leia says, “Alec, only people who care about Star Wars have opinions on CGI Yoda.” Nate just shakes his head and heads for the couch. 

**iii. Sophie **

Sophie wanders over from where she was examining the wine rack to see what’s going on. She gasps when she sees the clip. “Are those _ rubies?” _she asks. Her tone is nearly identical to the one Alec used a minute ago to ask about the shape.

Mel swoops off Sophie’s shoulder to get a closer look. Leia, amused, stretches out to allow the bird to perch on her back. The mockingbird cocks her head and Sophie says, “They are! How beautiful!” 

Alec looks back at the pin. Now that he’s looking closer at the stones and not geeking out over the design, Sophie’s right, there’s a depth to that color that you don’t get in sequins. 

“That is… a lot of rubies,” Sophie says in the admiring tone she uses when looking at something easily stolen and very, very, expensive. 

“Had some extras lying around,” Parker says from the rafters. Alec definitely does not jump, whatever Leia says later. The thief flips down, landing as easily as a cat, and grins at them.

Sophie raises her eyebrows. It’s obvious she wants to say something about Parker’s hoarding tendencies, or maybe about Parker’s cavalier attitude towards jewels once she’s actually stolen them. Probably she’s also thinking about the Christmas tree decorated with priceless artifacts. But Mel looks at Leia, then at Parker. She whistles a single sharp note, and instead Sophie says, “Inlaid impeccably, too. Where did you find such a unique piece?”

Parker shrugs. “We know a guy.” She makes a face. “Girl. Woman. Person. Whatever. We got a person for that.”

Mel ruffles her wings. It’s obvious they want to know more, but they've all got a past, as Sophie says, so the crew mostly respects the confidentiality of their former...colleagues... as long as it's not relevant for a job. Instead, Sophie reaches out a wrist and her daemon flies back to settle on it. “What a lovely gift,” Sophie says. She transfers Mel to her shoulder and smiles that enigmatic _if only you knew what I know _smile that Alec has seen reel in dozens of hapless men and at least two women. He resists the urge to ask just _what_, exactly, Sophie thinks she knows. 

**iv. Eliot**

Eliot comes in from the kitchen holding a couple plates. “Appetizers,” he announces. “We’ve got mini mushrooms filled with cream, onions, and mushroom stems, and crostini topped with a spicy prosciutto, orange marmalade, and just a little bit of cream cheese.” Parker’s got an appetizer in each hand before Eliot can put the plates down on the table. Eliot huffs like he’s annoyed but Alec can see Boudicca’s tail wagging. He can't be fooled— he knows Eliot is secretly delighted. 

The hitter places the food carefully on the table before turning to take a look at this much-discussed new accessory. He eyes the rubies with the practiced eye of a retrieval specialist. Alec can tell he’s about to make some joke about how even his _ soul _ is a geek (which, like, duh, of course she is) when Eliot goes totally still, the way he does whenever he’s recognizing something _ very distinctive. _Alec freezes in response, eyes darting around the room. Did he miss something dangerous?

“Is that.” Eliot says, eyes narrowing. He stops, shakes his head, and starts again. “Is that a universal handcuff key? And… a lockpick?” 

Alec says, “What? No? It’s a hairpin?” at the same time Leia shows her teeth and says “Yep,” popping the “p” as loud as she can. She looks extremely satisfied. 

Alec swivels back towards his daemon, squinting at the hair pin again. Leia obligingly unclasps it and hands it over. Now that he’s looking at it closer, he can see that while it superficially looks like a normal hair clip, it twists apart into pieces. There’s a piece that’s got the universal handcuff key on one end, the kind that opens whatever handcuffs regular law enforcement typically uses and, on the other end, the narrowed point of a lockpick. Another piece has a matching lockpick, and a grip he thinks is just to attach it to Leia’s fur but might have some other use he doesn’t know about. 

Sophie says, “Now where did you get a jeweler to put _ that _ together?”

“Well, she’s also a fence,” Parker explains, in the same tone that a different person would use to describe a mail deliverer. “And she makes the best equipment. Totally the person to go to for diamond-tipped window cutters.” Everyone looks at her and she shrugs, defensive. “What? We can’t make _ all _our own gear.” 

Eliot asks, soft, “Parker, why did you get this for Leia?”

It’s Leia who answers. She’s gotten used to talking to the team recently, though she still mostly addresses her comments to Alec or the other daemons. This time, she talks directly to Eliot, and her voice is as gentle as when she wakes Alec out of his nightmares. “I asked them to teach me to pick locks,” she says, swiping the metal out of Alec’s hand and swiftly reassembling the clasp without looking. “And I think you know why.” 

Boudicca’s tail droops and Eliot heads back to the kitchen. Leia watches them go. She clips the pin back behind her ear and says silently to him, _ We all process our trauma differently. _

**v. Parker**

Parker frowns, furrowing her brow. Also Parker circles in the air next to her, anxious. “Why is Eliot upset?” she asks. “Did we do something wrong? Is this not okay?”

Alec and Leia blurt together, “No!”

Alec looks to Sophie for support. He’s out of his depth here. Sophie’s gaze lingers on Alec and Leia, then on Parker and her daemon. She glances towards the kitchen, then nods to herself. “Parker,” she says, “you did great,” and Mel trills in agreement. Parker still looks confused and upset, but Sophie just smiles encouragingly at both of them and glides over to the couch to sit next to Nate.

That was not precisely the support Alec was looking for, but he guesses it’s a good thing Sophie’s occupying Nate’s attention. Bad enough he’s going to have to talk about Eliot’s feelings to Parker, but the hitter would be even more furious to have his vulnerabilities exposed to Nate.

Alec gestures for Parker to sit down. She perches on the table, snagging another one of Eliot’s appetizers, and looks at him expectantly. The dragonfly sits on the table next to her, thorax twitching. 

“This gift is amazing, Parker,” he says, with all the honest emotion he can put into it. He thinks about the thought that went into this, that she picked a design that would be _meaningful_ as well as useful (though she might have also been aiming for something innocuous, something a casual viewer would smirk at as a geeky affectation and never bother giving him a second glance, she's always thinking on multiple levels). She commissioned the best craftsmanship money could buy. He thinks about Parker cooing over a stack of unmarked bills, and what it means that she was willing to part with what must've been a hefty chunk of cash for him. To his embarrassment, he feels himself starting to tear up. “We... we can’t thank you enough, really.” 

Leia leaps to the table beside Parker and Also Parker, but instead of trying to soothe the restless dragonfly, she just grabs one of the orange things and brings it back to Alec. He blinks at her, sitting on his lap. She’s always been the smarter half. He eats.

Leia says, “You remember why I wanted to learn how to pick locks?” It’s not really a question, but they have to start somewhere.

Parker nods, and Also Parker says, “After Moreau pushed you into the pool. You didn’t want to be stuck like that again.” 

Leia nods. She twists her tail in her paws for a moment. “We were helpless, I was helpless, and that was terrifying. You’ve made it so if that happens again, I won’t be helpless, and that means so much. But…” she glances towards the kitchen.

Alec knows that Eliot can probably hear everything they’re saying, and what he can’t hear, Boudicca will be able to. He feels awkward about it, but, well, Eliot’s got the right to know. He licks his fingers and marvels again at the hitter’s unbelievable cooking. Part of him hopes that Eliot picked this appetizer because he knew how much Alec loves orange, but he doesn’t want to assume too much.

“But?” Parker asks, impatient. 

Alec sighs. He runs a hand through Leia’s fur, the coarse overlayer, the softness underneath. “Leia wasn’t the only one who wanted to save me and couldn’t while I was drowning,” he explains. “Eliot was right there, and he has the skills, it would’ve taken him thirty seconds to get me out of the water.” There’s a clatter from the kitchen. “But he _ couldn’t," _he adds hurriedly. He can't have Eliot thinking they're still angry at him. "He couldn’t even look at us, because the second he showed he cared, we both would’ve been full of bullets.” He strokes the ruby emblem with a gentle finger. “For us, for Leia, this means we’ll be able to save ourselves, if there’s a next time. But for _ Eliot, _ it’s a reminder of a time he thinks he failed to protect us.” Alec raises his voice a little. “Even though he _ obviously didn’t fail _ since, you know, we’re fine.” 

Parker nods. He can see her turning the thought over in her head, like the tumblers in a lock. “I still need to teach you how to use it,” she says to Leia.

“I can’t wait,” the raccoon answers. 

“Eliot will help,” Parker continues blithely. There’s another clatter from the kitchen and Eliot appears in the doorway. 

“Eliot will what now?” he growls. Parker grins up at him, unbothered. 

“We’re going to tie Hardison up and teach Leia how to get him out!” she cheers. 

Eliot’s eyes go wide. “I ain’t—” his voice goes unexpectedly high and his ears redden. He coughs, his voice returning to his normal rasp. “I ain’t gonna be part of that!” 

“Don’t be stupid,” Also Parker says, launching himself off the table to hover in front of Eliot. “You’re not stupid. You’re going to help train Hardison and Leia because you want them to be safe, and you’re going to do everything you can to make sure they’ll be able to take care of themselves whenever you're busy getting punched or whatever and can't do it for them.” 

Eliot blinks. There's a low chuckle that Alec takes a second to trace to Boudicca, whose tongue is lolling out in her canine laugh. Eliot's eyes flicker to his daemon, then back to his teammates. He shrugs. “Well,” he says, “when you put it like that. Guess we’ll just have to find a time to tie Hardison up.” He smirks over at Alec, whose mouth has gone suddenly dry. “Not right now, though,” he adds. “I’ve got lemon chicken with artichoke hearts in the oven, and it’s time for dinner.” He turns back to the kitchen, muttering to Boudicca too quiet for Alec to hear.

Parker beams at him. “So you like it?” she asks eagerly. 

“Parker,” he says emphatically, “I love it.” _I love you_, he carefully doesn't say, though he's been gone on this woman since the first time he watched her leap off a building, all joy and fearlessness, with the glinting gold of her daemon diving beside her. Leia wriggles in his lap and he adds, "Thanks for looking out for us." 

“Well,” she says “_someone _ has to save your skin, geek boy.” She skips off towards the kitchen, leaving Alec gaping behind her.

“Did she just _ quote Star Wars _ at me?” he asks at the same time as Leia says, high-pitched, “That _ was _a Star Wars reference, right?” 

Alec and his daemon stare at each other and, together, they begin to laugh. 

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be pure fluff but apparently I have too many feelings for that. 
> 
> The pin looks approximately like this one, only, you know, inlaid with rubies: https://www.etsy.com/listing/583532518/star-wars-black-rebel-alliance-dark
> 
> Eliot did, in fact, pick that particular appetizer because he was hoping Hardison would enjoy the orange marmalade.


End file.
